Emptying pump for washing machines



1386- 1952 A. G. COLSTON EMPTYING PUMP FOR WASHING MACHINES Filed May 3,1949 I n venior Jrcke'a/a dodf'ray (blszon A iiorney Patented Dec. 2,1952 'EMPTYING PUMP FOR WASHING MACHINES Archibald Godfray Colston,Perivale, Grecniord,

England, assignor to Hoover (Washing Machines) Limited, Perivale,Greenford, England,

a British company Application May 3, 1949, Serial No. 91,107 In GreatBritain -May3, 1948 11 Claims. 1

This invention relates to washing machines of the kind intendedprimarily for washing household clothes, fabrics and the like, andcomprising a container or tub adapted to contain washing liquid, i. .e.water with or without soap orother ingredients to assist washing, and animpeller within the container arranged to be ro tated by suitable handor power-driven driving mechanism so as to agitate the contents of thecontainer.

The lnventioniis particularly, though not exclusively, applicable to awashing machine as set forth in United States patent application No.598,287, nowPatentNo. 2,478,188, issued August 9,1949, which described amachine having a con tinuously rotating impeller, mounted in or adiacentto a side wall of the container where it will normally be submerged inthe washing liquid, and comprising a disc, the whole periphery of whichlies close to the side wall of the container. The exact form of theimpeller may vary widely. For instance, it may be of the type describedin this specification, havin asymmetrical radial ribs in its operatingsurface, or alternatively may be of symmetrical type as described inBrit ish patent specifications Nos. 34,853 of 1946 or 5,430 of 1947, newBritish Patent Numbers 624,- 187, accepted May 30, 1949, and 624,191,accepted May 30, 1949, respectively, or of any other suitable design.

Thus according to the present invention, in a domestic washing machineof the type specified, means is provided for emptying the container ofwashing liquid comprising a casing in the form ofa cap shaped to fitclosely over the exposed 2 The invention may be carried into practice invar ous ways, but one specific embodiment will now be described by wayof example with refface of the impeller and make a seal with the Iadjacent wall of the container round the impeller, and having an inletnear the middle of the casing communicating with the lower part of thecontainer and an outlet from the peripheral portion of the casingcommunicating with an outlet pipe.

. The casing may be held in position against a side wall of thecontainer and enclosing the impeller by securing means braced againstthe opposite side wall of the container. Such securing means maycomprise a telescopic strut mechanism, or alternatively atoggle-operated strut mechanism. Part of the strut may conveniently actas a communicating passage from an inlet inlet, and the strut has atubular portion at one end adapted to fit over the spigot.

erence to-the accompanying drawings, in which Tigure l is a sectionalelevation of the conzarilnir of a domestic washing machine in which pying means accordln to thi has been fitted, g s embodiment Figure 2 isan end elevation of the casing of the emptyin means looking .in thedirection shown by the arrow II in Figure 1, and

Figure 3 is a fragmentary view partly in sect1on drawn to an enlargedscale illustrating a gziz lnirnmg mechanism for expanding a telescopicIn this embodiment the invention is a li to a domestic washing machinecomprising z t i .or container A to contain the washing liquid and theclothes to be washed, having opposite vertical side walls A and A and animpeller B mounted as shown in Figure l with its axis roughly horizontalin a circular dish-like recess A in the central portion of one verticalside wall A The washing container A is provided with a washing impellerB like the impeller disclosed in United States Patent No. 2,478,188,issued August 9, .1949. The impeller B is in the form of a disc, oneface of which is a surface of revolution close to the side Wall A of thecontainer and on the-other face of which are a number oi radial fingersor projections, 28 of smooth wavehke profile. The impeller isrotatedelectrically and the radial fingers act to circulate and disturb thewashing liquid for the normal washing operation.

When it is required to empty the washing liquid from the container, theimpeller B is enclosed by a detachablecasing C in the form of ahalfpump-case, which fitsclosely round the impeller and cooperates with therecessed side wall A to which it is pressed, so as to form a completehousing around the impeller andto convert the latter into a form ofcentrifugal pump. The casing has an inlet C communicating with the lowerpart of the container through a flexible inlet pipe D so as to draw upliquid, and an out"- let C from which a flexible hose E carries the pumpliquid out of the container to a suitable place suchas a kitchen sink.The inlet (I -is in the form of a central passage in a coaxial hub ortube C projecting from the casing C. A sealing washer C of rubber orother suitable elastic material lies in a groove in the casing C andserves as a seal between it and the side wall A The casing is secured inposition by being braced against the'side wall A containing the impellerby a telescopic strut F which bears against the opposite side wall A ofthe container. The strut comprises two tubular pieces F and F arrangedto telescope one within the other, of which the outer end of the piece Ffits over the hub C of the casing while the outer end of the piece Fcarries a disc-shaped end piece F which serves to distribute thepressure of the strut on the side wall A The tubular pieces F and F ofthe strut F are united by a catch F see Figure 3, of the over centertoggle type providing for relative longitudinal movement of these piecesand serving to latch them in their expanded condition. The catch F is aknown type such as that illustrated in United States Patent No.1,575,028, is

sued March 2, 1926. When the strut F is latched in expanded condition,the casing C is firmly seated against the wall A and the end piece F isbraced against the opposite wall A The tubular piece F carries a pin Fwhich rides in cam slots F" in the portion of the tubular piece E whichis telescopically received in the Piece F The cam slots F extend inopposite directions on opposite sides of the piece F and have hooked endportions F providing over center pockets receiving the pin F forlatching the strut in expanded condition. The strut F is expanded andcontracted by manually rotating the pieces F and F relatively to eachother. The sealing washer C has suflicient resilience to permit the pinF to be operated over center into the hooked end portions F on the slotsF".

The tubular piece F has its end closed by a baffle wall F and has aspout F projecting from its side wall as shown in Figure 1. Onto thespout F is fitted the inlet pipe D, so that the piece F acts as apassage connecting the pipe D to the passage C of the casing.

In operation, when it is required to empty the liquid in the container,the casing C is placed in position over the impeller B with the strutprojecting from it towards the opposite wall A The catch is thenoperated over its dead-centre so as to cause the telescopic strut toexpand and brace the casing firmly in position against its wall A bycorresponding pressure against the opposite wall A The impeller is thenrotated electrically and acts together with the casing C as acentrifugal pump to empty the liquid from the container.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. The combination with a domestic washing machine of the typecomprising a container adapted to contain washing liquid, a disc-likeimpeller mounted adjacent to a side wall of the container where it willnormally be submerged in the washing liquid, and driving means to rotatethe impeller so as to agitate the contents of the container, of means toempty the container of washing liquid comprising a casing in the form ofa cap shaped to fit closely over the exposed face of the impeller andmake a seal with the adjacent wall of the container round the impeller,an inlet near the middle of the casing to communicate with the lowerpart of the container, an outlet from the peripheral portion of thecasing, and an outlet pipe leading from the said outlet.

2. The combination with a domestic washing machine of the typecomprising a container adapted to contain washing liquid, a disc-likeimpeller mounted adjacent to a side wall of the container where it willnormally be submerged in the washing liquid, and driving means to rotatethe impeller so as to agitate the contents of the container, of means toempty the container of washing liquid comprising a casing in the form ofa cap shaped to fit closely over the exposed face of the impeller andmake a seal with the adjacent Wall of the container round the impeller,an inlet near the middle of the casing to communicate with the lowerpart of the container, an outlet from the peripheral portion of thecasing, an outlet pipe leading from the said outlet, and securing meansdesigned to be braced against the opposite side wall of the container tohold the casing in position enclosing the impeller.

3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2 in which the said securing meanscomprises a toggleoperated collapsible strut designed to be bracedagainst the opposite side wall of the container to hold the casing inposition enclosing the impeller.

4. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2 including a telescopic collapsiblestrut designed to be braced against the opposite side wall of thecontainer to hold the casing in position enclosing the impeller.

5. Apparatus as claimed in claim 4 including an over-centre lockingmechanism by which the said telescopic strut can be extended and lockedin the extended and braced position, the said locking mechanismcomprising one or more cam surfaces on one part of the telescopic strut,one or more co-operating cam followers engaging said cam surfaces andcarried by another part of the telescopic strut, and a stop to limit thetravel of the said cam followers when past the dead-centre positionwhere the strut is fully extended.

6. Apparatus as claimed in claim ,5 including an inlet pipe, and agenerally tubular part of the strut which acts as a communicatingpassage between the inlet pipe and the inlet of the casing.

7. -A device for forming a pump housing around a washing machineimpeller mounted adjacent a wall of a washing machine container,comprising, a casing having a peripheral sealing portion extendingtherefrom in one direction adapted to engage and seal against a wall ofa washing machine container around an impeller, saidcasing being formedwith a fluid inlet passageway and a fluid discharge passageway, a,collapsible strut secured to said casing and extending therefromoppositely to said sealing portion adapted to bear against a wall of awashing machine container to secure said casing around an impeller, andsaid strut including locking means for secure ing said strut in rigidcondition.

8. A device for forming a pump housing around a washing machine impellermounted adjacent a wall of a Washing machine container, comprising, acasing having a peripheral sealing portion extending therefrom in onedirection adapted to engage and seal against a Wall of awashing machinecontainer around an impeller, said casing being formed with a fluidinlet passgeway and a fluid discharge passageway, a pair oftelescopically engaged parts forming a collapsible strut secured to saidcasing and extending therefrom oppositely to said sealing portionadapted to bear against a wall of a washing machine container to securesaid casing around an impeller, and means for latching saidtelescopically engaged parts in fixed relation to each other.

9. A device as claimed in claim 8 in which said latching means is of theover center type by which the telescopically engaged parts of said strutmay be extended and latched, said latching means comprising one or morecam surfaces on one part of the telescopic strut, one or morecooperating cam followers on another part of the telescopic strutengaging said cam surfaces, and a stop to limit the travel of the saidcam followers when past the dead center-position where the strut isfully extended.

10. A device as claimed in claim 9 including an inlet pipe, and atubular part of said strut connected to said inlet pipe and the inletpassageway in the casing to form a communicating passage therebetween.

11. A device as claimed in claim 10 in which said casing includes acentral hub projecting from the 15 2,341,894

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 557,300 Barber Mar. 31, 1896807,971 Skinner Dec. 19, 1905 2,331,379 Dyer Oct. 12, 1943 Barifli Feb.15, 1944

